Atarashii Sekai
by ayushi
Summary: Welcome to the New Age, where there are no leagues, just one King. Welcome to the New Age where Pokemon Hunting is the preferred sport and Pokemon slavery is the preferred form of labor. Welcome to the New Age where Villainy is the new law. But for every new Villain that arises, so does a Hero. It's a revolution I suppose. [Features Anime and Games Characters] [HIATUS]
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Fortunately, I don't own Pokémon.

_Prologue_

He passed through the market place swiftly and with ease. He didn't attract much attention and went unnoticed by the various sellers and buyers that currently inhabited the town square. His eyes scanned and observed each and every stall with precision and he mentally made a note of all the objects that were being sold. He came to a halt in front of the last stall for a brief moment as his eyes met with the helpless female Tropius locked in the cage. He ignored the voices of the potential customers who bargained with the trader for a fair price. He had stopped for only one instant and in that moment he had tried his best to convey a simple to message to the Tropius, that they_ will_ get her out of there.

As he continued his walk towards their current base, he passed a group of elementary school children who were singing chants in the praise of the king. He tossed some loose change into their collection basket, not out of appreciation for the king but out of mercy for the kids. These kids, who knew nothing about adventures and journeys, _needed_ his mercy.

He exited the Trader's Avenue of previously Slateport City, which was now just another unnamed trading town in the state of Hoenn and walked towards North and entered the path that was known as Route 110 until a few years ago. He took a right from the T-junction and after a few minutes of walking on the long road, bending over water, he reached a small cottage, almost hidden by a line of trees on the side, overlooking the sea.

He unlocked the door and entered the dark cottage. He didn't bother to turn on the lights as he quickly shut the door behind him and took a walk around the house to check if all the windows were closed and covered or not. After making sure that no one would be able to peep inside, he walked towards the farthest corner on the right side, and knelt down to push the carpet back. A faint square outline could be seen on the wooden floor and the young man very effectively lifted the loose floorboard to reveal a makeshift wooden staircase leading down to a well-lit yet small room in the basement.

The room was filled with quite a few wooden boxes with labels on them. He climbed down the stairs carefully and hurriedly picked up the one labelled 'Ash' and had three small holes drilled into the lid. He sat down on the floor, with the box in his hand and quickly took off the lid, a flash of yellow jumped up at him and he cradled the electric Pokémon in his hand.

"Hey, Pikachu. Did you miss me buddy?" He whispered in an almost inaudible voice. Pikachu just nuzzled against his neck, too afraid to speak, "It's alright. I'm here now. The meeting doesn't start before sundown. I'll stay here with you till then, okay?"

-x-

**A/N:** I plan to include a lot of characters (Game and Anime) in this and will be using the English names for some and Japanese for some, so if it ever gets confusing please let me know. I would really appreciate your reviews!


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: So here's the first chapter! It basically focuses on the changes that happened in the world, a small insight on how Ash dealt with it and also how their small organisation works. I have decided to use the Japanese names for Hilbert( Tōya) and Rosa (Mei) so I hope it's not confusing. And umm…that's all! Enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: *checks lazily* Nope, still don't own Pokémon.

Time.

It's revolving, it's turning, it's changing, it's flowing and it's waiting.

It's waiting to strike.

To witness the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one is considered a rare opportunity by some. But for the inhabitants of this world, it happened overnight. They watched, helpless, as their way of living was ridiculed by the harbingers of the new era. To live in peace with fellow beings was considered illegal, a preposterous sin by the new civilisation. In the fear of being wiped out, they could not help but abandon their precious peace and follow the new commanders; they could not help but commit those heinous acts against the creatures that were once their companions, their nakama. They cowered in fear of the new kingdom, they were too afraid to stand up, too weak to raise their voice and hence, within a span of fifteen years, the fate of the Pokémon World changed drastically.

The first law established by the King read that 'Catching Pokémons or keeping them in any other form except as a _Slave_ will lead to immediate execution of the Pokémons and imprisonment for the owner.' The law was further amended to add that 'Pokémon _purchase_ was the _only_ legal and state accepted way of attaining a Pokémon.'

This was followed by the Law of Slave Collars which stated 'Any Pokémon seen without a Slave Collar would be executed on sight.' For some reason, this law was the most popular and helped the Kingdom gain many favourable allies.

And the third major law passed was 'Pokémon Battling, Pokémon Co-ordinating, Pokémon Breeding, Pokémon Research or any other professional occupation which did not employ Pokémon as Slaves will not be recognised by the state as a legal profession, anybody practicing any of the aforementioned activities will be put on trial for treason against the state. His/her Pokémon would be confiscated and will be executed or put up for auction, depending on the owner's trial.'

Strangely enough, it did not take the people that much time before they got used to this lifestyle. Some sold their Pokémons and some set them free. As most of the population was left unemployed after the implication of the new laws, they turned on their friends by selling them out to the state for a meagre amount of money. Hundreds and hundreds of Trainers and Coordinators were caught and executed across the four regions. The executions became a kind of entertainment for the Royalty. The immense pleasure that was visible on their faces when the criminals were shot was just a tad bit disturbing. But not all Trainers were so easily defeated. The amount of Missing Persons reports filed that year was greater than any other. The best of the best disappeared without leaving any trace of their existence behind. While some gave up hope and preferred to stay away, some decided to dedicate their life to helping their fellow beings in every manner possible.

And 25 year old Ash Ketchum was a part of the latter half.

Time is an unusual thing. It passes by unnoticed, and yet when you try to stop and notice it, it shows you nothing but all the things that changed. Ash Ketchum had begun his journey when he was at the innocent age of 10. He had made friends, he had gone on many adventures, he had faced tough trials and battles, but he had failed to notice time. He ignored it as he went ahead with his journey, savoured the sweet taste of victory and formed the strong bonds of friendship. He ignored the past and didn't care for the future, he simply lived in the present. And that is why he failed to see it. He was so engrossed in his dreams, his adventures, his life that he actually failed to see the state of the whole world. He was overwhelmed as he watched the Pokémon suffer by the hands of his kind. He was scared and afraid like any other kid his age should've been. So he ran. He ran away from the people who needed his help. He only thought about himself and his Pokémon. He acted like any other selfish kid would have acted. And boy did he regret it.

It took him a few years to overcome the fear, but eventually he did it. He travelled across the regions, setting up bases gathering more members who shared his thinking but most importantly he travelled to observe the structure of the kingdom. Within a few years Ash was able to pinpoint the locations which were under full control of the Kingdom and those rare few locations which lacked supervision. He started his new journey when he was 13, again with no one but Pikachu by his side and as the years passed by he was surrounded by people who shared his views, his dreams. He was surrounded by people he could trust and people who trusted him. They believed in him to lead them and he had decided at the start of the adventure that this time he won't disappoint. This time he'll see it to the end. Even if the end meant death, he won't back down.

-x-

"_Are you afraid?" _

Tōya chewed on his lower lip nervously as he watched from afar. He had been a part of the small revolution army for only six short months and yet, here he was, on his first solo mission with no one but a newbie to watch him. He sent Mei a reassuring smile as they waited for the harbour to clear up. The sweet brunette replied with an enthusiastic nod which made Tōya even more nervous. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of her. He was the senior, he was supposed to act cool and look like he knew everything. He cursed his luck, if only Mei had joined a week later, he would be standing here all by himself and no one would laugh if he tripped and fell flat on his face.

"_It's okay if you are. I trust you anyways."_

Tōya felt a little a calm as Ash's words rang in his ears. He took a deep breath. Ash trusted him to save the Tropius, and there was no way Tōya was going to let him down. He took a deep breath and turned to look at Mei again, "Let's go over this one more time." He whispered, "We-"

"Wait for Archeops' signal and then move in. You'll use your Chandelure's Confuse Ray to distract the guards while I look for the Tropius. When I find the ship she is on, I'll signal Archeops and then he'll let you know. I wait for you patiently and do not try to break the cage or rescue Tropius in any other way." Mei grinned at him as she finished.

Tōya smiled sheepishly at her, "I'm sorry. I'm not really good at showing the ropes."

She sent him a polite smile as she said, "I think you're doing just fine."

Before he could thank her for being so kind he heard a faint cry and looked up at the night sky. Tōya adjusted his hat and nodded at Mei, "Show time."

They moved from their current hiding spot and Tōya was surprised at how agile the young girl was. She swiftly reached the docks unnoticed by the guards and Tōya. One minute she was next to him and the next she was already looking through the very first ship for any signs of a caged Pokémon. He grinned as he quietly released his Chandelure. Maybe this mission won't be so bad after all, he thought. He moved between the crates and boxes to keep himself hidden and watched as the two guards who were supposed to patrol the harbour sat in one corner and chatted with each while gulping down tankards of beer, "I probably won't even need you." He muttered to the ghost Pokémon floating beside him. Around 20 minutes passed before he heard that same faint cry again. He looked up and saw his Archeops point towards a huge cargo ship right in the middle. He gave a thumbs up to his Pokémon and very silently ordered Chandelure to confuse the already heavily drunk men. He then proceeded to calmly make his way to towards the ship, not even bothering to hide himself. As he climbed up on to the deck he noticed Mei standing next to the only occupied cage, waiting obediently for him.

"At least 20 more cages." She whispered, "What do you think happened to them?" She looked at him with sad blue eyes.

"It's best not to think." He replied softly.

She nodded submissively and changed the subject, "I've been thinking about this the whole time, how exactly are we going to rescue her?" She looked at the cage with a confused look on her face, "You said that we can't break the cage or anything, so how are we going to do it?"

Tōya smiled as he fished out an empty Pokéball from his bag.

"We're going to catch it?" She asked again tilting her head in confusion.

Tōya shook his head as he walked forward and slid his hand inside the cage through the small space between the bars. The Tropius immediately backed away in fear. Tōya quickly kept the Pokéball on the surface of the cage and walked away. The Tropius edged away from the ball, looking scared.

"What exactly…?" Mei trailed off, unable to understand the situation.

"Mei, what do you know about the slave collars?" Tōya asked her calmly.

She frowned as she answered, "Uh…They have a tracking system installed and if the Pokémon happens to go across the designated area, it paralyzes the Pokémon for a certain amount of time." She searched through her brain for more details, not wanting to disappoint her senior and scowled when she remembered the last function, "And if the Pokémon happens to cross a large amount of area, the Collar detonates and creates an explosion most likely killing the Pokémon."

"Exactly. But what you don't know is that the Slave Collar is rendered completely useless if the Pokémon wearing it has been captured in a Pokéball." Tōya grinned. This small piece of information was always saved for the last. Tōya remembered how surprised he was when Ash and Ethan had shown him the trick on his first trial mission. And the look on Mei's face mirrored his expression as that time.

"Is that why they stopped manufacturing Pokéballs?" She asked him, her blue eyes showing nothing but disbelief. Tōya nodded in response and the disbelief turned into rage, "Unbelievable. They are just unbelievable." She muttered as she glared at the empty cages.

Tōya sighed and cleared his throat to grab her attention, "So to continue…" Mei's eyes widened as Tōya suddenly fell to his knees, his palms on the ground and bowed his head in front of Tropius. The Pokémon looked taken aback by the male's actions and turned to Mei with questioning eyes, hoping for an explanation.

"Tropius, first I'd like to sincerely apologise for all the pain that has been inflicted upon you by my kind." Tōya closed his eyes as he tried to keep his voice from breaking, "I understand that you're afraid but I assure you that I and Mei are not here to do the same. Secondly, I'd like to request you to get inside that Pokéball as it would make it easier for us to save you." He opened on of his eyes to see that the Pokémon still looked unsure so he continued, "I am really, really sorry for everything that has happened to you, and that is why please, _please_ get into that Pokéball. There is no other way. I promise to release you the instant we reach a safe place. I promise to not hurt you. Please just trust me."

Mei was stunned by the amount of sincerity she saw in his eyes when he looked up. She watched as the Tropius slowly moved forward towards the Pokéball and looked at Tōya again, who nodded and smiled at the Pokémon. And to Mei's surprise, the Pokémon smiled back at him and willingly nudged the Pokéball with her feet. The Pokéball opened and in an instant, the Tropius was swallowed by a flash of light and the small red ball closed again. They watched intensely as the Pokémon inside the ball fidgeted and the red light kept flickering. And after a few seconds, which seemed like years to Mei, the flickering stopped signalling that the Pokémon was now safely inside the ball.

Tōya let out a loud sigh of relief and grinned to himself as he picked up the Pokéball from the bottom of the cage. He turned to look at Mei, who still looked a little shaken, "The most important thing in a successful mission isn't how fast you were, or how well you evaded the guards, or how elaborate your plan was. It's whether you were able to gain the trust of the Pokémon or not." He smiled at her as he repeated the words Ethan had said to him on his first mission. Tōya motioned her to follow him as they left the ship and easily exited the Harbour as the guards were busy sleeping. She watched as he called back his Pokémon and praised them for their hard work. She thought about how her mother would disown her if she found out that she had joined the revolutionary army. But after tonight, she didn't even care what her mother thought. Her mother was a coward and Mei was not going to become like her. No, Mei was going to fight and stand up against the Kingdom.

Mei was _proud_ of herself for joining the revolution.

-x-

A/N: So cookie for everyone who got the mild 'senpai notice me' reference from tumblr XD And with that said, I do NOT ship Mei with Tōya. Nope, I'm a hardcore Chessshipper. Reviews will be much appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Change.

It's unexpected and unwanted.

It can happen in an instant or over a million years.

Sometimes we notice it and sometimes we don't.

But eventually, everything changes.

The hunt for the trainers had been gruesome. The Kingdom showed no mercy and the trainers and Pokémon were killed in broad daylight. Though after much protest and contemplation, two months after the hunt began it was decided that 10 year olds who had just begun their journey and knew nothing about the dangerous capabilities of their so called companions would be exempted from the hunt so that they could be educated properly on how to treat the harmful creatures. The Kingdom put their best efforts into educating the young minds about the right way to handle the species called Pokémon so that they could someday in the future lead the Kingdom to prosperity.

They were young and naïve and ambitious. And yet they knew more about the species inhabiting their world than the ones who were at the top. The children whose journey's had just begun were forced back into their homes, their adventure and freedom snatched away from them. But the young ones were patient. They patiently waited for another change to occur. A change that was just as big and overturning as the current one, a change that _they_ could be a part of. A change that will give them a chance to shape their world. So they waited patiently and quietly. And they were rewarded.

They were rewarded with a revolution.

-x-

"Oh Arceus, it's _so_ hot!"

Cheren turned around to glare at his team member. Though the girl was senior to him and definitely more experienced, he couldn't help but feel that he was the one leading this mission, "We're almost there." He gritted his teeth to bite back any sarcastic comments.

"Oh Cheren-chan, don't make such a scary face at me! It's really discouraging you know." Lyra grinned at the stiff male, who adjusted his red tie for the umpteenth time and returned her grin with an impassive expression.

"We need to hurry up or we'll miss our slot." He replied wryly.

"I know that!" Lyra pouted. She refrained from passing any more comments as she could tell that Cheren was in a bad mood and as much as she loved to get on his nerves, it wasn't that fun when Ethan and Bianca weren't around to join in. And the bright sun glaring down at them while they trekked through the small hill wasn't helping either. Of all the places to make a secret base, the old man had chosen to build it on top of a hill. So not unusual at all. She couldn't believe her luck last night when Tōya got the rescue mission and she got stuck with this one. She had really begun to start hating the system of drawing lots to decide a team. But as more and more people joined their little organisation and with everyone wanting to go on every mission, a completely annoyed May had come up with idea that they should just write down their names on a piece of paper, put it in a bowl and leave it all to luck. Brock was very much impressed with this suggestion since he thought this would just bring us all closer and we'd get to know each other better. And surprisingly, this little experiment worked out pretty well. If it wasn't for this little method, Lyra would've probably just hid behind Ethan and Kris all the time, too nervous to talk to anyone else.

And while this little ritual of theirs worked perfectly most of the times, it did backfire once. Lyra felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she remembered the look of anger on Ash's face as Ethan and Brendan returned from their first independent mission with a Lucas whose head was covered in blood and two _very_ dead Pokémon. If it wasn't for Misty holding him back, Ash probably would've killed them both. The brunette shook her head vigorously and Cheren sent her a questioning look. She smiled at him to reassure him that she wasn't having a seizure. As they continued their quest to reach the top in time, she thought about how Ethan and Brendan refused to acknowledge each other's presence after that night. We can't expect everyone to get along like best friends, Lyra had overheard Cilan telling Ash and she wondered how badly these small glitches could interfere with their work.

"Lyra we're here."

"Huh?" She blinked twice as her train of thought was broken and looked around. She could see the steel cabin right ahead of her. Yes, the cabin was made out of steel. _So_ damned conspicuous. Lyra hated the Ball Man. Nobody knew his real name, nobody had ever seen his face (except maybe Ash and Gary but they always dodged her questions) and nobody had ever entered the stupid steel cabin of his. He was simply the Ball Man, the guy who illegally manufactured Pokéballs. The saying, Curiosity killed the cat was wasted on Lyra as she always jumped ahead to find out everything about everything. And not knowing anything about the Ball Man pissed her off to no extent.

Cheren walked forward to retrieve their set of new Pokéballs as he saw Lyra's face crunch into a scowl directed towards the steel cabin. Everyone was very much aware of her dislike towards their Pokéball manufacturer (because she made it so obvious) and most people just found it amusing. But even Cheren was interested in finding out the identity of this Ball Man. His methods were pretty simple. You slip in the request for Pokéballs along with the cash under his door and the wait for fifteen minutes, after which another sheet of paper slides out from under the door with the date and time slot on which you can come and pick up the Pokéballs is written. And when you arrive on the given date and time a small box containing your Pokéballs can be found sitting on his doorstep. If by chance, you're late, your Pokéballs as well as your money is gone. Cheren thought that was pretty smart and cunning of him and always wondered that he'd congratulate the Man for thinking up of such a simple method if he ever met the man in person.

"Are they all there?" He heard Lyra's voice from behind him as he counted to check the amount of the Pokéballs inside the box. He nodded in response and picked up the box.

"Oh great! We can leave. I don't like this place." Lyra glared at the cabin. Cheren rolled his eyes and started walking back the path they had come. He stopped after a few minutes as he realized the hyper brunette wasn't following him, he turned around to find her still glaring at the Ball Man's house.

"I don't think he'll come out if you glare at it hard enough." He pointed out dryly.

Lyra narrowed her eyes at the cabin one last time and then turned around to direct her glare at Cheren who just raised his eyebrows in response. She stomped past him and continued her way down the hill, "Hurry up!" He heard her shout from far ahead and sighed in frustration. Tōya had been very lucky last night, he thought.

-x-

She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and took a deep breath to calm herself. The freaking kids were taking too much time and she was sick and tired of waiting. Cheren and Lyra should've known better than to make her wait. If there was one thing the orange haired beauty was known for, it was the mallet that magically appeared when she was pissed. And right now she was very pissed.

Ever since the _change_ had shaken their world, Misty hated sitting idle. Every time she was left alone with nothing to do, a small fear would envelope her and as time passed, it would grow bigger and bigger, slowly eating her up from the inside and leaving her trembling and blinking back tears and gasping for help when it suddenly disappeared. The first time it happened was when she was forced into jail. She had spent two years in that jail, awaiting judgement for her so called crimes. The cell was dark and damp with an eerie aura surrounding it. They would leave her alone for days, forgetting to feed her, not allowing visitors. She thought she would die in there. She hoped to die. But that small black hole of fear inside her would not allow her to die. It lived inside her and tortured her. She didn't understand why she was the one going through the pain, she had tried to do the right thing. Her sisters were the ones who sold their companions, their friends in exchange for their own lives. She had just tried to take back what rightfully belonged to her. Why was she the one who was locked up? Why was she the one about to face an execution? She tried answering these questions everyday but she wasn't able to.

A few weeks inside that small cell made her believe that maybe she deserved death. If she had kept quiet her Pokémon would've been alive. Yes, they would have been treated badly and probably even tortured a little. But they would have been alive. Her rashness had caused their death.

Each and every day, she sat in a corner, hoping that at least one of her companions had survived. Hoping that someone would come for her and tell her that she was right and they were wrong. What she had done was good and what her sisters had done was selfish and evil. She hoped that someone would come and tell her that she didn't deserve death.

She thought she was dreaming when just a few days before her execution a small yellow rat wriggled in through the metal bars of the cell and jumped at her. It took her a minute to register what it was and when she finally remembered she pulled the Pokémon into her arms, clutching him hardly, thinking he would vanish if she let go. And then it hit her and she let him go.

"No no _no._"

The mouse simply tilted his head in confusion.

"But, _how?_"

How was he just roaming around freely? If anybody saw him, he could die. How could his trainer be so inconsiderate?

His trainer…

The Pokémon started chattering away hurriedly gesturing with his little paws but Misty couldn't understand a thing, "No, Pikachu, go a little a slower. I don't understand."

Pikachu paused and looked at her, "Pikapi pika chu pikachu chu pi. _Pikachu!_"

All she got from that was his trainer's name and the word duck. But he said it with such urgency that Misty dived farther into her corner, pulling the little rat into her arms as she ducked from mew knows what. It was only a few seconds later that the whole cell shook from the impact of a small explosion near the entrance. The first she noticed when she lowered her free hand from over her head was the debris and smoke. She coughed a little and looked up to see that a few of the metal bars were now lying on the ground along with the plaster from the ceiling. She heard someone cough and instantly backed away.

"_Shit, I should've thought this through. Pikachu, are you alright?"_

The Pokémon wriggled out from her clutch at the mention of his name and bounded back towards his trainer.

She just stood there. She couldn't find her voice, there was a lump in her throat and her vision slowly blurred as her eyes filled with tears.

"_Sorry it took so long. I made you wait quite a bit didn't I?"_

If she kept thinking about him and that day and his promise and his smile, the small hole would disappear leaving behind a warm and comforting feeling.

And even that warm and comforting feeling disappeared when she heard footsteps and angry muttering. She looked outside the window and saw Lyra walking- no stomping angrily towards the car followed by Cheren who looked like he had given up on trying to understand the girl.

"Finally." Misty muttered to herself as she rolled up her window and started the car. The door on the passenger side opened and slammed shut as Lyra climbed in next to her, still muttering angrily. Cheren climbed in the back now looking annoyed. Misty turned around to look at him, "Don't make that face. Lyra called shotgun remember?" She reminded the boy who fiddled with his tie as he flushed under her stare, "Did you get the balls?" He nodded and held up the box for her to see.

"So ugly. I bet he is like super-duper ugly."

"Lyra, please shut up." Misty groaned as drove back onto the path and exited the small forest.

"But I just want to see his-"

"I know. Holy Moltress_, I know_." She shot a glare in the brunette's direction.

Lyra cringed as Misty glared at her and decided to keep her mouth shut for a while. But that while didn't last long.

"You look pale." Lyra frowned at the driver.

"I'm fine." Misty shrugged.

"Sorry we took so much time. We left you alone for quite a while didn't we?" Lyra mumbled with an apologetic look on her face.

"It's okay, really. I'm fine." Replied Misty, as she put up her best reassuring smile.

Cheren watched the exchange from the backseat and didn't quite understand most of it. He was fairly new to the organisation and didn't know much about the older members. All he knew was that they had all gone through tough times, they had all lost some of their closest friends, their Pokémon and that all of them were ready to stand up and fight for what was right. Cheren was never the kind to break rules and go against the law. But when the law itself was wrong, he had no choice but to revolt. He had no choice but to fight alongside these people who believed so ferociously in their dream of changing the world.


End file.
